Swiss Hotel: Jews Should Take A Shower Before And After Swimming

“Everyone is acting really respectfully. This is a very weird phenomenon. This is anti-Semitism that we had never been exposed to before.”

A Jewish family vacationing in Arosa, Switzerland, claim they were singled out at a hotel after they encountered several signs at the facility that appeared to be anti-Semitic.

The family said they reserved a room at the Aparthaus Paradeis hotel after reviewing recommendations by former guests. However, upon arrival they were shocked to find the racist notes. One of the notes was placed on the refrigerator while the other was at the swimming pool entrance.

“To our Jewish guests: You are allowed to approach the fridge between the hours: 10.00-11.00 in the morning and 16.30-17.30 in the evening. I hope you understand that our team does not like to be disturbed every time,” read the note.

While the one placed at the pool entrance read, “To our Jewish Guests: Please take a shower before you go swimming and although after swimming. If you break the rules, I'm forced to cloes the swimming pool for you. Thank you for understanding: Ruth Thomann. [sic]"

“After we made the reservation, we spoke to a woman who was very nice to us. We told her that we are Jewish and she said that not many Jews stay at the hotel,” said father of the family, who remains unnamed.

He further added, “We were shocked. None of us went to the refrigerator because we didn’t want there to be an argument but the day after that, the sign at the entrance to the pool suddenly appeared and that was a real embarrassment.”

Disappointed by the signs, the man decided to talk to the hotel’s manager. However, she was not available at that time.

“It’s very strange. Even the goyim can’t understand [why these signs are here]. There is a really nice group of Jews here from all over the world — there are barely any Israelis. Everyone is acting really respectfully. This is a very weird phenomenon. This is anti-Semitism that we had never been exposed to before,” he said.

Ruth Thomann, the hotel’s owner, said the signs were misunderstood because of the wrong choice of words.

“I made a note and I used the wrong words. I wrote ‘for our Jewish guests,’ and one of them wrote me an email asking me to take it down,” said Thomann.

She further clarified she placed the sign at the pool entrance because “some of these guests went swimming with clothes on, with T-shirts and didn’t take a shower.”

“The refrigerators in the rooms are small. So I told them, ‘You can store some small things with our stuff, but don’t go in every time,’” she said.

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely called the signs an "ugly display of anti-Semitism." Following the incident, she made sure the signs were taken off and was later assured by the Israeli ambassador to Switzerland that the signs were removed.

“Unfortunately, anti-Semitism in Europe is still a reality, and we must make sure that the punishment for incidents such as these will serve as deterrents for those who still harbor the germ of anti-Semitism," she said in a statement.